


The Royal Stride

by Amisbro



Category: Prince of Stride: Alternative (Anime), Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Drama, Gen, Idols, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 10:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9651122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amisbro/pseuds/Amisbro
Summary: Joshua is the Assistant of Camus but there is something ELSE that he was very good at doing in a "past life" and that was running or more specifically "STRIDE".  What happens when a series of events brings out Joshua ,"THE STRIDE King", out of retirement after an unfortunate circumstance?  You have to read and find out friends





	1. Chapter 1

It was a nice ,sunny day out in the city and all was actually relatively still. People were out shopping and some were at the park playing with their kids because of how nice it was. It was the perfect day to do either nothing or go out and be active

If your name was Joshua however you actually got a rather interesting notice from the President of the company you worked for and had to meet with him ASAP!

“MISSSSSSSTEEEERRR CURTIS!” The spiky haired gent bellowed and Joshua knew that this was NOT going to go well…or so he thought!

“Yes President. What is the matter this time as I am sure you are well aware that I need to get Camus ready for the day’s proceedings no?” Joshua so bluntly put but as he responded he could tell that Saotome actually was a little hurt by the retort of the Assistant to the Count. Seems ol’ Frosty had a bit of an influence on him!

“No need to be harsh Joshua” The President began “I actually wanted to tell you that recently Camus has been talking with me about what you do for him and he has seen fit to want to reward you.” Saotome explained and Joshua thought about that in two ways

1\. That’s the lewdest G– Damn thing that another man ever told him…not even Yukari phrases things like that

2\. How do you reward someone for working for you when you get pulled in so many directions that its nearly impossible to get work done?

The latter was a question that Joshua actually verbally asked and Shining just gave him a knowing look. The way that Camus apparently saw it was that when he does work for the Agency he is serving many different people and not just him. It also doesn’t hurt that he gets loaned out to Raging per agreements so that kind of thing he felt should be rewarded…it was definitely something that Joshua never considered while at the Agency but he was grateful…just one thing

“I appreciate that Camus wants to reward me and I will accept the Count’s gift but not…yet! I feel I have work that needs to be attended to at this time and I would like to take care of that first before I see what he came up with if that’s alright with you?” Joshua asked sternly and Saotome agreed to the terms. He knew that Joshua likes to keep a focus on what is in front of him and any distractions that he gets are pretty much no good especially with as busy a schedule as both he and Camus have not just together but on their solo projects!

The rest of the day went pretty uneventful and that’s saying something when it comes to the “Dynamic Duo” as some call them now. Joshua and Camus’ chemistry as boss and employee was second to none and when they did interviews together for different publications Camus was always very complimentary of Joshua both on AND OFF camera which was rare because some would get to see the “Idol” but never the way Camus was away from the public.

During the course of one interview Joshua had to put their phones on vibrate because they were blowing up left ,right and center! It turns out that the one appearance they had on an afternoon show caused quite the buzz when Camus actually didn’t address Joshua as his “Servant” or “Assistant” which ,he almost always calls him the latter and reprimands ANYONE that says the other…HE DOESN’T EVEN SAY THAT!

The thing of it was that not long after that the twitters for both men were blowing up all over and at one point Joshua noted that there were some individuals following him now but he didn’t recognize the names. It was interesting too because the pics and bios they had didn’t look anything like what he would recognize but he chose to ignore it because…he didn’t think anything of it at that time!

By 6:30-7 PM Josh and Camus were wiped out and they were STILL getting mad follows and the Message box for both were crazy but what Camus thought was interesting was that the individuals that Joshua had seen follow him earlier

A: Weren’t following him

and

B: That Joshua had about 15 messages that he need to check on his which was why Josh was so bug eyed! The concept and idea that Josh would get hit up that much was crazy and not because he wasn’t popular…he was but he usually got just mentions and that was it! This was the first time that either remembered his message folder blowing up!

Of course Joshua and Camus just shrugged it off and they went their separate ways to their homes and little did ANYONE KNOW that the messages Josh was getting was just a sign of things to come!

_The Next Day_

Well if the day before was a lazy day for the city then today was a MADHOUSE!

Why?!

Well you see today was a big event that was going on and the roads were actually blocked off because of it! The event ,as it would be found out by Otoya when he checked the net, was called a STRIDE Fes and when Joshua heard that he started coughing. Not like the “I’m sick” cough but more like the “I know something but I’m not telling you” kind of cough and when he corrected himself he used hand sanitiser before speaking to Otoya

“Well friend it looks like even if I WAS supposed to go out with Camus today that isn’t happening! I’m minorly disappointed but this could actually be a fun event so are you up for going bud?” Joshua asked and Otoya nodded. What Josh didn’t know is that both STARISH and QN were interested in the event…and why Joshua reacted the way he did when he heard about the Fes in town!

Well they didn’t get that answer but they did get to see a heck of a show and they actually got to go near the middle of the course which is a spot Josh likes to be for these events…even if they don’t know why yet!

The schools that were going to be involved in the event were a school called Ichijokan and another called Saisei and when Joshua read the name it didn’t hit him UNTIL he saw the names of the runners and the Relationer on the paper!

“You gotta be shitting me!” Joshua quietly exclaimed as he scrambled for his phone and realized who followed him on his account. It gets more crazy when Joshua double checked one of the names and nearly fainted…

Kaede Okumura!

“Well I’ll be…what leg is he running?” Joshua asked to himself and it was at that moment that he saw Okumura take the hand off and a part of him smiled from ear to ear! That kid was something and he knew that from firsthand experience.

The problem…the rest of STARISH didn’t know that!

As Joshua frantically tried to get through the crush of people to see the rest of Kaede’s leg he got to the end when he saw him hand off to an orange-haired gent named Tasuku Senoo and Josh could tell he was a miserable piece of work but all the same he looked and saw Kaede panting collapsed on the pavement and it took everything in Josh’s power to make sure that the kid was okay! The path to get to the handoff had to be hell and Josh just WANTED SO BAD to check on the kid but he had his own job to worry about and this wasn’t the time sadly that he COULD check on him!

Saisei won the race by 2 seconds and then they had to go try and cool down before a concert that they were going to be performing that night. Josh wanted to stay for it but the problem was that the boys wanted to go home. Camus made the request for Joshua to stay and watch the concert in light of the events that had happened and the young man nodded and thanked his boss who simply told him “Don’t mention it”. What was up with that?

That night at the concert Joshua tried to get through the young ladies that no doubt wanted to see the 6 young gents whom he found out later were called “Galaxy Standard” or “Gal Stan” for short. The young men did their concert and for some reason Joshua couldn’t help but feel like he was in Deja Vu…why does the name “Galaxy Standard” sound familiar?

Sadly the concert would end before he could answer that question but one thing interesting DID happen:

During the performance they were putting on while Joshua was sending out a reply to Tokiya about something they were supposed to do in two days Kaede jumped from the stage and walked over to the barricade where he spotted Joshua. They locked eyes for barely .1 seconds and then he smiled and went back on the stage.

Okay…what the hell?

Somehow that slight interaction blew up twitter ,instagram and a lot of other media outlets and it caused an interesting situation…one that no one knew its impact until one fateful day

This is the beginning of “The Royal Stride”. What implications will this one meeting have in the future?


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few days since the STRIDE match against Ichijokan and there were some questions that the boys of Shining Agency were going to have about the events that happened afterwards because the newswire blew up from the eye contact that Kaede and Joshua had. It was all over twitter and facebook and when some heard about Joshua’s appearance there was a question that was going through the ENTIRE sports scene

“Why was Joshua at the Gal Stan concert and what was the reason for the eye contact with Kaede?”

It became a hell of a story that Shining and Raging specifically wanted answers to but they knew that Joshua was still a pretty private person when it came to his activities away from QN and HEAVENS. He was pretty clever to avoid exposure usually so why was THIS a big deal all of a sudden?

The question wouldn’t be answered on this day but what did happen was actually a pretty interesting chain of events that may have helped the mystery of what was going down with Joshua piece together easier.

The first event happened early in the morning. Joshua had been out for a run before getting showered and ready to handle his duties. Sometimes he goes with Ran and on very rare occasions he goes with Toki…its all according to who is up and how they are feeling. Usually he actually goes alone but when it comes down to it he just likes to keep fit and active because ,as we all know, an Idol’s life is pretty much 24/7 and he likes to show that to all three groups that he affiliates with.

Well…

After the jog and getting showered and dressed Joshua made sure to get the coffee and such for Camus before he fired up his computers and checked the news and sure as all hell he was still the top headline! The story was really a big deal and it wasn’t gonna die quietly. This became more apparent after he got a call from Shining to come to his office after he did his morning routine and this lead Joshua to one big question

“Does Shining ever sleep?”

This question wouldn’t get to be the one that was answered but Joshua did find out something important from his head man.

“What’s up Shining?” Joshua asked as he entered the office and noticed that something was different and for the Assistant of Count it was about to get kind of interesting

“Mr. Curtis” Shining began I would like to introduce you to the man that is responsible for leading the Saisei STRIDE team and that is their relationer…” Shining tried to finish but was quickly cut off by Joshua

“Shizuma Mayuzumi correct? You and your younger brother are in the group Galaxy Standard if I’m not mistaken. You six have had like 3 songs recently make the top 10 3 weeks in a row and one week threatened Perfume I wanna say. That’s an accomplishment considering how much of a Juggernaut they are.” Joshua explained and Shizuma was godsmacked by the knowledge that Joshua had already.

“The rumors are true about how much of a steel trap your memory is aren’t they? I’ve heard that you are good with getting and maintaining information but I didn’t realize that you were that good!” The relationer explained and Joshua just smirked.

“All in the job I was hired for and the man that hired me. I take that role seriously and I like to think that I do it almost better than some. With that said…what brings Saisei’s relationer to this humble academy?” Joshua asked now awaiting an answer from either man

“Mr. Curtis” Shining began “I’m sure you know about the stir that your presence at the concert that this Galaxy Standard has caused right?” Shining asked and Joshua pondered this for a minute before actually answering the question

“If by a stir you mean the harmless appearance that I made at the concert because of a young man that I knew from a few years ago then…yes I remember that well. What would you like to know about it?” Joshua asked and both men looked at each other stunned! Why was Josh getting defensive over something like that?

“Relax Joshua its nothing bad” Shizuma explained and Joshua looked at the strawberry blonde man as he continued “The young man that you knew from a few years ago has requested your appearance at the High School in a few days. Would you be willing to come down for a visit or is your schedule a little too jammed?” Mayuzumi asked and Joshua had to think about this. He knew that he was actually missing a lot of days (all excused but still) so would be able to go on the field trip?

“With all due respect Shizuma I’m going to have to decline. I have a lot of work to do over here and I won’t be able to get it done without working practically non-stop to get everything done that I know Camus is going to want done and I am trying also to keep the focus on HIM and the QUARTET NIGHT as well as I have things I have to get done with HEAVENS soon. Raging is requesting me at a function for his group to try and help raise their profile so I can’t miss that either. I do apologize because I actually WANT to see Okumura but right now that’s not possible.” Joshua explained and both men respectfully accepted that decision and Josh was excused without a thought.

One would think that would be the end right? Well…

The second major event that happened about a day or two later when Joshua was at the venue that HEAVENS was to be performing at because Shining and Raging had Haruka working on some new songs for the group and with that came a lot of responsibility on her so he went to check on the stage setup which was pretty nice! Even though HEAVENS might not have been as well known as STARISH or QUARTET NIGHT they were starting to make a footprint and it was a good healthy one. Josh made sure that the PR team they helped them with public appearances and the like. When he was available he helped with the interviews and how they were to answer the questions they got so everything was set to make sure that they set to make a dent in the QN/STARISH stranglehold that was going on between them

Then something interesting happened!

While going over the stage setup and the choreography for some of the songs a gentleman walked up behind Joshua and tapped him on the shoulder. The gentleman had on a BRIGHT yellow jacket and it just about matched his hair color. When Joshua saw the young man he couldn’t help but smile before he introduced himself.

“Hello Joshua!” The young man exclaimed happily “My name is Bantarou Chiyomatsu…pleasure to meet you!” Ban yelled happily before shaking Joshua’s hand and even if he didn’t know how he knew him the positive energy the kid showed just rubbed off on him and he smiled before speaking.

“Well Hello Bantaro. My name is Joshua as you well know and I’m just here to help with stage prep for a concert for some friends of mine. Have you heard of HEAVENS?” Joshua asked and Ban had to have a bit of a ponder but returned a sad face

“Sorry Joshua I haven’t but I do hope that your friends will have a great concert. Its not easy when you are a young group and trying to gain any fanbase especially with the situation going on in the Shining Agency no?” Chiyomatsu asked and the minute he did he all but apologized for talking about it but Josh just smiled and spoke kindly to his new friend

“It is VERY TOUGH especially since they compete now on the same label as QN and STARISH. I work for the QN but I have been trying to help get the HEAVENS boys a fanbase too! You boys however have impressed me! Your standings on the Oricon every day and week are nothing short of impressive and on a label that ,forgive me, but its not one that I knew about until recently when I watched your race. It was definitely interesting but Valentine does well for themselves so I can’t hate on you or the label and in this industry ‘hate’ can be a very scary thing that is used against groups and stunt their growth. Something I hope to help HEAVENS overcome.” Josh explained and the grin that Ban had on his face was one that was of agreement and good luck. He was always good like that.

As the day went on Joshua started getting messages on his personal twitter and facebook and he even showed them to Ban who was stunned by what was happenening. Josh explained this had happened after the situation with Kaede and that puzzled his new friend. Why would Joshua be getting messages and the like from people on his social just from this?!

This wouldn’t be answered but as they walked out of the room with the stage setup he ran into “them”!

“Them” were “Galaxy Standard”!

In Ban’s defense he didn’t know they were going to be there. He had come alone because he wanted to meet Joshua and Shizuma must have said something to the rest of the crew.

“Are you all the reason for this?” Joshua asked as he showed is social going off like a son of a gun and he already knew the answer but he wanted to hear it from them!

“I’m sorry Mr. Curtis I had told them to not contact you until we were ready to discuss some important matters but well…” Shizuma trailed off as he looked at his younger brother and Kaede

“WHAT?!” The exclaimed at the same time and Joshua just facepalmed

“Mr. Mayuzumi I have told you I am a very busy man and I mean it. I have to make sure this stage is ready in a few days because you see a group that I have been hired to help get off the ground is performing here and I’m not letting anyone stop that! IF you try to pull anything then Shizuma…WHATEVER business you might have with me you can very simply shove up your ass! Are we clear?!” Joshua asked and he nodded and everyone turned around but he did make sure that Bantaro was apologized to because of the outburst. Even if he was a part of that group he didn’t deserve to hear that!

“No I understand Joshua. To be honest I want to see what this group has to offer so when you have the concert can I come at least? I’ll make sure that the rest of them don’t come and screw it up for you I promise!” Ban told Joshua and he just smiled and extended his hand to Ban and as they shook he could tell the kid was genuinely sincere. He was also a man of his word as was found out at the concert a few days later

_The day of the concert_

Bantaro came to watch the concert with Joshua and see how the crowd took to the group. It was pure hell getting the choreography and compositions right because the composer ,Haruka Nanami, had been working with the different members to try and get the songs perfect but it was a lot harder than one would think. She had to learn each members personality and then tailor the melody and lyrics to them. Its a process that she goes through with Joshua and sometimes he likes to go upbeat and sometimes he likes to play the instrument himself to get his flow and melody down. He’s both one of the easiest and one of the hardest people to work with in the Agency because of the message he wants to get across to his audience and what’s interesting is he skews to an older demo it was found out but he does get a lot of kids as well which he loves.

Anyways as the concert was going on the two watched and chatted about the individual members stage presence and one member that Ban loved was Shion. He had a very soft voice which sounded like it was assuring the audience that he was going to bring them to a faraway place and Chiyomatsu said that “If he is presented right as a solo he will be their breakout” and Joshua agreed. He liked Kira and Nagi of the “Original Trio” but he couldn’t argue Ban about the calming energy that Shion had. Its why Josh made sure he gets put after Yamato whom is a lot more “rough” with his songs if that makes any sense. He tries to balance the act so that the audience gets a truly complete package which is something he loves to do with their audience.

As the concert wrapped up Joshua got turned his phone back on and checked to see if there was any messages he needed to answer and there was two with the oldest being from Shining. The message read as follows

“Get a hold of Shizuma as soon as possible”

After Joshua read that message he looked at the next message which was from Shizuma himself

“You’ve been requested to come to Saisei for a weekend trip. You don’t have to come but its something that’s been put in and I wanted you to know.”

Joshua showed the messages to Ban and he was stumped as to what this was about and the timing SUCKED! HEAVENS was to hold a concert that he was requested to help manage it. Why could the school not LISTEN!

Joshua texted him back explaining the situation and Shizuma understood and had the request taken off. The kicker is that even though Ban was a member of Gal Stan he actually was on Joshua’s side with what was going on. The idea that Saisei was not willing to let Joshua be after he even heard about the situation with Joshua’s schedule (which is the reason he came alone as Josh found out after this) he made sure that he could try to HELP Joshua with his situation and not hurt it and ,to his credit, Joshua was never mad at HIM but the situation and he got it.

After they parted company Joshua made his way home and explained the situation with Saisei to Camus whom couldn’t understand what they wanted AT ALL but he was grateful that he had a friend at the school that understood his situation and one that would listen to his problem.

In the days that followed the communication between at least Shizuma and Joshua slowed up and the notifications that were going off every 3 seconds now were slowing to a crawl. HOWEVER all of the Gal Stan members still followed all of his accounts but the communication (save with Ban) was not as heavy as it once was which he liked and Camus could tell that there was a big ass weight taken off his back!

What Joshua did NOT know…was that soon…he would be dealing with Saisei on a regular basis and there was NO WAY he could stop it!

Joshua’s world ,and that of those he associated with, was about to be turned inside out and upside down!


	3. Chapter 3

_3 Days Later_

It had been 72 hours since the situation had gone down with Gal Stan at the studio and Josh was not in the best of moods. This was evident when he got up and went of an EXTRA LONG jog to make sure that his mind was clear he could adjust to what he had heard the day before

[ **FLASHBACK** ]

_The Day Before_

“So let’s see if I got this bulls**t right” Joshua started already annoyed by what had been explained to him by Ryuuga and clearly not thrilled “Valentine Records ,the label that has the group ‘Galaxy Standard’ performs under, is run by THIS AGENCY?!” He yelled and he couldn’t help himself. Usually Joshua is pretty composed but this is the kind of surprise he utterly hates!

“Correct. The original owner of the label was going to go under financially and he was forced to sell it. At the time there wasn’t any talent on the label so for the final act under the old ownership they got this group together that you know now as ‘Galaxy Standard’ and then sold to Shining whom made it a condition of the sale. He didn’t know that it would cause any conflicts with anyone but this was also I believe before you came on as a member of QN and Camus’ Assistant. I do think he should have disclosed this to you but he didn’t and now here we are. One condition was that they couldn’t be booked on the same show as HEAVENS but he would be allowed to book them with STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT. Those conditions were put in so HEAVENS couldn’t be overshadowed by them.” The Sensei explained and the Assistant thought his head was gonna blow up. Something was clearly wrong with the way that things were going around this Agency but there was NOTHING he could do even if he wanted to. It was Shining’s playground and he makes the rules up as he goes along.

“Alright” Joshua began “the next question is was there anything that a member of this actual agency was to do in return for the sale to Shining?” Joshua asked and Ryuuga couldn’t think of anything but he did have a question about Joshua’s past

“Is it true that you used to compete in STRIDE?”

Joshua’s eyes got big as all hell! It wasn’t that he was mad or anything about it being brought up but he was surprised that somone approached him about the topic. “Yes…yes it is! Does this have something to do with Saisei?” Joshua asked and Ryuuga nodded and showed him the photo that was taken when Kaede and him locked eyes for that brief moment. NOW it was starting to make a little more sense!

“When you get free time go across the courtyard. Shining’s been meaning to give you something for a little while but things have been hell for you and we know that your schedule has not allowed for you to have a lot of free time has it?” The orange-haired teacher asked and Josh shook his head “no” which gained Hyuuga’s sympathy

“I’ll see if in the next two days you can get some free time and I’ll go with you to show you your reward. Its something that I think is pretty impressive and I gotta admit…I never did the sport but I’m jealous of what he gave you” Ryu explained and left it at that. The mysteries of the Agency and now Valentine Records was starting to get clearer but even so there was a lot to be upset about and one of those problems Josh was gonna face soon and he knew it!

[ **END FLASHBACK** ]

———————————————————————————————

Back to the present and when Joshua came back and got showered and changed the day began like nothing had happened. He and Camus went about their day but with no alerts from Saisei or the Gal Stan members. Josh speculated that the reason for this was because they wanted to adhere to his wishes (and they did) but Camus also suspected there was a little something more. The only person that contacted him at all was Bantaro but Josh was fine with that. He was effectively his Liaison between Saisei and the Shining Agency and Joshua was more than grateful to have him on his side. During one exchange he did ask about Kaede and if he was okay. Ban assured that he was but that he also wanted to get to talk to Joshua at some point in the future. The only thing about that was that the rest of the crew would probably come with him. Josh relented and told him it was fine but to let him get some honest free time before they set the meeting up and he agreed.

As the day progressed Joshua was able to keep the focus where it needed to be which was on the actual Shining Agency and QUARTET NIGHT specifically in this case as he and Camus were doing pub for an upcoming benefit concert they were scheduled for. One thing that came up in one interview was the rumor that Joshua had been asked to be a teacher at the actual Academy. Josh actually confirmed the rumor but told the interviewer that he had to decline because of his projects he already had at the Agency. It was going to be him taking Ryuuga’s spot and Hyuuga was to stay in the Agency as an adviser to new groups they hired. However as he told them because of the commitments he had with Camus alone and the groups they had on the roster that was a virtual impossibility to do.

There were several more interviews that went on that day and they all had rather interesting questions and one was for Camus about how much Joshua was off doing projects for the Agency instead of what was the original intention (and this was a valid question that others had too). Camus’ response?

“I didn’t realize that Joshua was going to be as sought after in the Agency. He is still a very valuable asset to me personally but the work he gets to do I am very happy about. This is something I have told him privately as well as now so this isn’t just breaking news or anything. Joshua is a jack of all trades and this Agency under the structure we have now WOULD NOT run without him…we tried when he went on a vacation to my homeland and it wasn’t the same.”

Would you believe this was the first time Joshua really ever heard Camus say this? Well he might have been told in private but its true that this was more or less the first time he heard the Count say this about him on TV in public. This also publicly debunked a rumor that Joshua was Camus’ “Servant”. Camus always publicly stated he was an Assistant and that he ran a tight operation and he did! Camus kept his schedule (which he occasionally would slack on without him) and the two formed one of the best teams in the Agency. NO ONE could beat them as far as how they operated and that wasn’t ego but pure FACT!

As the day ended Joshua made sure to fire off a message to Ban to let him know how the day went and his friend replied that he saw the interview that Camus mentioned about how he felt about his other projects. He was actually happy to hear that his boss was encouraging when it came to what he did away from the Agency or for it and it was that reason that he got more freedom than most. To be honest there WAS a time when it pissed off the others that worked there because they put in the work too but didn’t get nearly the freedom ,but they learned quickly that Joshua would only book what he could handle and if there was something that he couldn’t do then he was always quick to turn it down…the Saisei trip for example!

When they got back it was already past 9 PM but Ryuuga was waiting by the front entrance of the dorms and specifically for Joshua. After giving his bag to Camus (he offered to take it) the teacher and Joshua made their way across the courtyard to this big building that Joshua had heard was abandoned ages ago. What were they doing going there?

This question…was about to be answered!

The doors to the building opened and to say Josh’s jaw smacked the floor about 10 times before returning to its normal position would be an understatement! The questions that immediately ran through his head were the following

\- How long did this take?

\- How much did Shining have to put out for this?

\- Who was gonna use this room?

Well the second question he didn’t ask (no sense in being rude) but he did ask how long it took to get done and he was surprised when he heard the response

“Oh…only about a month.”

The first response that Joshua had in his head was “Yeah BS” but he didn’t respond at all to that and then asked a question that plagued him

“Who helped put this together?”

His answer came when he felt a tap on his shoulder and saw the entire crew from STARISH ,QUARTET NIGHT and HEAVENS standing there! Turns out when Josh had disappeared for that extended period the crew at the Agency heard of some exploits he had when he was younger and they wanted him to REALLY feel at home so they spent a good amount of time scrubbing and washing the room so it would be spotless and then they made sure to get some more Modern equipment in there from present Era of STRIDE and make sure he could keep up with the kids.

“This is…I dunno how to say ‘Thank you’ without sounding cheesy or pretentious so…” but before he could finish he was cut off by Ryuuga

“I got a way for you to say ‘Thanks’…show them what you got!”

Joshua just smiled and excused himself while he went to go get his things and while he did that Ryuuga went to the “Relationer’s position” with a smile because ,even though it was a solo run for now, if this worked as well as he thought then Heaven have mercy if he ever needed to be a sub cos someone was getting beat!

When Joshua came back he had his earpiece in and his gear on. To say that the boys were expecting something special was an understatement and well..they did and it wasn’t even him at his best!

The time wasn’t that important because in a proper STRIDE he would only do one leg and on one of the parts he screwed up a wallrun with where he liked to hit and then land. Even with that one screw up the boys watched a show of shows that not even Camus himself could put on and when he ended at the finish yes he was a mess but everyone was impressed that the gentleman still had that in him!

“Curtis-San!” Cecil exclaimed  
“Joshua” Kira simply stated  
“THAT WAS AMAZING!” Nagi screeched

And the compliments just came in from there…there was plenty more to his story than they knew for sure and some stuff that when it was explained would blow people’s minds!

The next day though…it got interesting!

Why? Well as part of the arrangement for this Joshua was going to have to either let Saisei come to the Agency or he would go there for the day. Joshua decided to let the students come see him there and when they got there everyone was cordial…well Tas was a proper ass and Suwa and him were NOT getting along and the worst part about that was Reiji was actually cool! There was something there that had to be gotten to the bottom of and it was going to need to happen since NOW he knows they work under the same label!

The crew was brought inside to the main part of the Agency and everyone was properly introduced including Joshua’s dear friend Bantarou whom had been his go between up to this point. When they were having their discussions it dealt with how they could all work together especially in the competitive world that they all live in and STARISH and QN agreed to do Co-Events with them. They actually WANTED to do shows with HEAVENS but were told they couldn’t. The reason given was that their profile might actually overshadow HEAVENS and at least one person from Saisei thought it was BS

“”So you mean to tell me that our profile is too big to work with HEAVENS? Shouldn’t that be a good thing or am I just stupid?” Tasuku asked in the most flippant of manners and Josh had to bite his tongue because he HAD to work with this kids now and he didn’t want to any problems.

TOO LATE!

“The hell did you say punk?! Just because you look like some preppie that I used to slap the shit out of doesn’t mean you can give us that attitude you got me?!” Yamato screamed and THANK GOD Ryuuga was there because otherwise it was gonna be a BIGGER PROBLEM than they needed!

“Did I stutter or did the bleach in your hair fry the brain cells you got that work?” Senoo retorted and Josh just had it then

“EF***INGNOUGH ALRIGHT!” Joshua yelled and that shut EVERYONE UP! Shining was going to say something but he knew better when Josh was this far gone!

“That’s better…felt like a frigging Romper Room in this motherf***er with you kids fighting! Christ and I thought I had the issues with Saisei but damn Yamato I respect you sticking up for your squad but I don’t need this headache please!” Joshua yelled and Yamato respected his wishes as did Tas but part of that could have been scared shitless at the sight of Joshua blowing up. Ban didn’t know if it was wise to go near Josh but he walked up and patted him on the shoulder and Joshua smiled slightly when he did that. He was grateful for that too because ,due to the odd hours, he hadn’t been able to talk to Yukari much and that was a part of the reason he was on edge. He didn’t tell Ban about that but its pretty much public knowledge so he was fine with it…truth be told no one in Gal Stan gave a damn save maybe Tas but at this point he was past caring about his opinion!

“Now then” Joshua started again “How can we at the Shining Agency be of service to you? I seem to be a needed commodity by you guys because Shizuma messaged me about a weekend trip which I know is impossible due to the schedule unless you wanna sit there and tell me that that got switched?” Joshua asked them and they all shook their heads no and even Shining agreed with that. “Alright then…what can we do for you today then?” Joshua asked now getting a little irritated again.

“Actually” Shizuma began “its less about what the groups can do for us and more about you. There are rumors going around that the ‘Legendary Stride runner’ has been resurfacing in the media and some sports publications here have been hinting at his return. We’ve been checking the rules and there is nothing that states that you wouldn’t be allowed to work as an eligible Runner in a match as a sub for a team. If the the Op were to come up would you be willing to run with us?” The older brother of Azuma asked and Joshua was stunned at the question. To be honest yeah…he got the itch from the run the night before but to him his days were behind him and he felt that way more and more as things were going on with the Agency and whatnot.

“I respect you for offering the spot Mr. Mayuzumi but I have to decline. You see the three groups I am associated with as is right? I have to keep on top of them or things are just gonna fall apart. I do feel bad because I would LOVE to run with my friend Bantaro but right now that’s not possible.” Joshua explained and everyone respected it. Kaede felt a little sad because as much as its known he loved running against Kyosuke he wanted to run WITH Joshua. He wanted to see if the Legend was true and he wanted it on HIS TEAM! He saw the days from when he ran ages ago for another school and he remembered getting a letter back from Joshua telling him to keep at it and he would be good as well. Now another idol of his was within arm’s reach and he just couldn’t get to work with him which saddened him a little.

“Listen friends I would love to sit here and chat all day and night but I got work to do with HEAVENS right now and I got STARISH and QN tomorrow and the next day me and Camus are back at it. You understand how tight things are right now I’m sure now right?” Joshua asked and they all nodded and as every got up to leave he shook hands with Shizuma ,Azuma ,Kaede and Bantaro. He didn’t feel right shaking hands with a man he cussed out and Suwa…he had to earn it!

This was the beginning of a very tense relationship with Joshua and Gal Stan. A relationship that ,as everyone found out, was going to have to be worked out fast due to a horrific event no one saw coming!


	4. Chapter 4

_Days after the meeting_

Joshua and the boys were back at it with practices for their respective concerts and of course he was working with Camus on his schedule. Any and all free time he DID get was devoted to practicing in his “personal playground” and believe it or not Haruka came with him to watch him practice and also to learn the cadence count of a Relationer. While this was never a position he held he knew a little bit about it and made sure that she learned what she could from him and if Shizuma stopped by he went over the information Joshua taught her as well as gave her a simplified version of what he taught Nana back when Honan was at Saisei. He actually liked teaching Haruka and she was actually a very easy study especially when it came to figuring out how to basically sync with the runner’s hearts and minds to be able to get as perfect a STRIDE as possible. With her being a composer learning the position wasn’t that hard but it was all about finding the “tempo” for her when she was alone. Granted this wasn’t a lot but she would get great help from Joshua and Shizuma…it was almost as if they worked together before…odd!

Anyways on this day Joshua and Nanami were working on the actual relation part and for that she needed someone to help him. As luck would have it Azuma was in the area and they worked on deciding whom would be the lead off and whom would next in line. For this run the younger Mayuzumi agreed to take the Lead while Joshua was the hand off. This was done because she pretty much was learning when he can go but it was now going to be trickier with Azuma…a gent he never worked with!

The first attempt wasn’t the best: Josh jumped the gun a little early (not Nanami’s fault he just got antsy) and thankfully he was able to slow up before the takeover spot or they were going to have a serious collision and remember its a hard floor in the room so it wasn’t going to end well if someone collided here. One “good thing” (and that was debated actually) was that the boards they had that were used for the course designation broke away so there was some give if there was a smash through them. I say this was debated because you see when it came down to it there was debate among Ran and Yamato (when they weren’t bitching at each other) whether having walls with no give would have been better or not. Ran’s argument was that they should be there to keep someone from barreling through and busting up their knee or worse and Yamato said that if the boards gave way that it was safer for the body. Ren was the tiebreaker and he voted for Yamato’s idea…yeah his Senpai wasn’t happy about that!

The second attempt was ALMOST perfect: When Joshua was running he had a minor stumble and got to the takeover zone about 1 second late for the handoff. Haruka had the timing down it seemed but the stumble threw it off.

Were the young men getting frustrated? No not really because believe it or not they figured they could get it right in at least 2 more attempts and then if they got it right they would try it again to make sure that they could do it again and it wasn’t a fluke. This is how Azuma wanted to work with Joshua and they were both cool with it so the composer did it again and THIS TIME it went perfect and it went so perfect that Josh front flipped and took the handoff with ZERO ISSUES! This earned a “SHOWOFF!” comment from Mayumzumi and all Joshua could do was smile ,shrug and get in position to see if they could time it right again

And they did!

There was something about the way they were resonating or “connecting” not just with each other but Nanami that almost made them wish that Nanami could be the Relationer for the their next big match which was going to be an official “Group Match” coming up with the winners to go into the actual “End of Summer” tournament.

The block that the boys from Sasei had drawn had the following

Tsubakimachi (which held a very significant place in Joshua’s heart for reasons)  
Misashi  
and of course Ichijokan which was headed by Shiki Douzono and someone that AGAIN…Joshua knew personally but he had heard that he had changed and not for the better!

The Winner of this table would actually be placed in the Semis of the format that they were using for this tournament: A Step Ladder format where the best record would be placed in the finals and the second best was to be the Semis as mentioned.

The reason they were using this stipulation for the tournament? The official term was “Potential for Injury” but no one believed it. For some reason though when Joshua heard that Shiki was in their pool he was worried! He knew the man personally and they had a pretty good relationship but if the rumors were true then he was going to have to put that to the side and put him out if he was for some reason needed!

Wait a second…”If for some reason he was needed”? What kind of jabberwocky was this?! He had to work with STARISH and HEAVENS and QN to get their things right for their tours…he didn’t have time for this…did he?!

This question would not be answered but Azuma could tell that Joshua was pondering something. He couldn’t tell what and he didn’t know what was going on in his mind but he wanted to make sure that he could still keep clear while he was out tomorrow. Azuma could tell he was thinking about something and told him not to worry and that “Saisei will handle this!”

The thing was…Joshua wasn’t too worried about most of them because he knew they would be good but there was one kid that worried him to death and for some reason THAT was the one that he figured the Relationer would go after if he got the chance!

When the two officially parted company and Joshua relieved Nanami of her duties for the day he smiled at her because of how well she seemed to be picking up the job. Again to Nanami’s credit she used her role as “composer” to help her get the role down easily and the teachings from Shizuma and himself. As they walked out with Azuma he did tell her about the potential to be “bluffed” by another Relationer so she would have to learn how to alter that with her “compositions”. The trick as he told her was not to let the OTHER Relationer be the one conducting the Orchestra that is a STRIDE race and rather for her to be the one to lead if possible…this requires her team to well coordinated at different skills and such but hopefully also for her she never had to worry about that…like Josh she had A LOT on her plate!

_2 days later_

Joshua had been asked by Shining to go watch a recording for a TV spot that was being done for Galaxy Standard and Josh did as asked without any problems. He did have to get by one security guard that didn’t recognize him as a member of the staff for the crew and Joshua showed his credentials and the gent ,whom had long silver hair and a very dashing uniform, saw Joshua’s name ,smiled and let him pass

“Sorry about that Joshua. We already had a few fans try to sneak in to see the rehearsal so we couldn’t be too careful.” The gentleman explained and Josh just smiled before speaking

“Sir I’m just glad that you are doing the job you were asked and doing it well. As you know I’m Joshua from the Shining Agency and might I be so kind as to ask whom you are friend?” Josh questioned and the guard complied

“My name is Shinya Hiragi and its a pleasure to meet you Joshua. We hear so much about you that its actually kind of interesting to see the ‘Legendary Runner’ in the flesh.” Shinya told Joshua and he couldn’t help but blush at the comment. The fact that the ‘Legend’ extended outside of the Stride and music world was getting more and more interesting and the surprises only continued when he entered the studio.

“Ah Mr. Curtis” A stocky gentleman began as he approached Joshua “We’ve been expecting you. I hope everything is well” he finished and Josh just smiled and nodded. As he made his way through the studio he saw the boys going over what they needed to do for the spot and that was when Kaede noticed him.

“HEY JOSH!” The green haired young man began “how are things with you today?” Okumura finished and Joshua stopped to speak to him.

“Pretty good friend. Just stopping in to check on everything here since I was asked by Shining to see how things were. If its alright with you I am gonna hang out here and watch the shoot. I won’t interfere with it I just want to see what’s going on and how everything goes if that’s alright?” Joshua asked the group and there were no complaints from anyone. Then again…if there WERE to be any then apparently their meet a few days earlier put a stop to that with Tasuku for sure!

Joshua watched the group to see how things went and it took a few takes if for not other reason there were minor technical issues. The group was doing their job properly but the tech glitches were causing issues and the sponsor couldn’t have that. Once the glitches were handled the group performed the spot flawlessly (which he expected) Joshua walked onto the set to have a talk with them about the group they put in and Ban…wasn’t happy

“Is it true you went to one of the schools that we are facing Joshua? That’s not gonna be fun and then there is Ichijo whom has a relationer that you apparently have a past with don’t you?” He asked and Josh just shrugged ,sighed and nodded before replying to his friend.

“Its true that I went to Tsubakimachi and I actually went to a Junior High in the same district as that school. The funny thing about that was that me and Shiki used to be best friends when we competed against each other and now I hear that this dude is a Relationer/Manager for Ichijokan, That would be cool but I have heard from sources that the man has become so twisted that he is willing to put his own team in jeopardy to “crash out” the opposing team and make sure that somehow they win by default! From what I have seen also your draw was to face them last and that worries me, Here is hoping that you can go 2 and 1 with a faster time for the tiebreaker so that you can make the Semis and you don’t have to compete all the way through. Remember that this tournament is going to be a stepladder so the winner could be the team that only had to win one match or potentially 3 with the way its setup.” Joshua explained and he was honestly shocked how freely he was talking to the whole team! It was just a few days ago when he looked like he wanted to rip off Tasuku’s head and screw it up his ass but now…now is a whole different ballgame!

“We’re aware Curtis-san and we are trying to plan accordingly. HOPEFULLY we won’t have to have a sub but if we do we are still looking. Its interesting…even with how well the school is doing in competitions there are people unwilling to step up as an alternate! From what we understand that is something that is needed for this tournament instead of just a regular roster of 5 and the Relationer…its a bit worrying” Reiji explained and Josh was shocked to hear this! What was going on within the school that people don’t want to volunteer? Talk about a frustrating time for sure!

“Does the sub HAVE to be from Saisei or can you use someone from another school if need be?” Joshua asked and when he looked around no one answered. Now part of that was because of the fact that they didn’t know what the rule was EXACTLY but then he remembered the offer made only days earlier and something clicked in him and then he asked his next question

“How soon do you need to know the alt?”

This caught everyone off guard…Shizuma who SHOULD know the rule shrugged and their manager legit didn’t know when they needed it. He just knew that they needed an alt/sub for the tournament and the sooner the better! Joshua took note of that and motioned for Shizuma and Kaede to come over out of earshot of everyone else because he MIGHT have had an idea

“If you can send me the rules to see if I would be legally eligible to compete and you can do it like a week before at least the final match of the group stage ,if they let you go that long, then…I’ll see if I can find a way to help you. I know we aren’t on the BEST of terms but we know its not you ,Kaede ,Ban or even your brother. Whatever issues we got I’d bury for as long as I had to if it meant making sure that a certain jackass doesn’t make it to the finals! Can you make sure to get me the rules for eligibility in a few days guys?” Joshua asked and they both nodded. They knew what Joshua’s issue was with the team and in every way respected it. They also respected that he was willing to put things in the past long enough to help if he had to and this is why ,among other reasons, Joshua was courted by Saisei and it was for this reason.

Oh but it got better!

Without saying a word Shizuima told Joshua that he would personally talk to Shining about switching a date with HEAVENS so they could have a bigger show. He wanted to help the young group and he knew that Joshua was really good friends with the group so he was willing to return the favor and help them out somehow. Even if he couldn’t get the date switched he would think of something for helping out in some way.

_A Week later_

A week after the conversation with Shizuma and Kaede he was given the rules for the contest and the good news is there was a late sub submission that was eligible for any school to use and they could effectively “draft” someone that either did OR DIDN’T go to the school that they were wrote down for. Because of this rule Joshua could be put on Tsubaki or worst case Ichijo. The catch is that the school has to have someone be out of action for at least two races and if Saisei made the Semis and say they lost Kaede…well that means he couldn’t compete the rest of the tournament!

“How bad do you want to compete again Joshua?” Camus asked as deadpan as possible but that was a question that they both knew the answer to already. Josh couldn’t lie and say he DIDN’T want to because if he didn’t then when he and say…STARISH or HEAVENS had free time they wouldn’t be training in his gym together. Josh was keeping his skills tight in case something were to happen and he knew it as did Camus, The chances that he would be needed though were slim and he knew it but he also knew when Ichijo’s match was with Saisei and that person that passes as a human in Douzono!

“We’re off the day of the Ichijo match right boss?” Joshua asked and Camus nodded. He knew Josh wanted to see the match up close so he cleared the schedule so that they could go together and watch Kaede’s leg…matter of fact that was the exact spot they would get the day of the race but we are getting ahead of ourselves

The days and weeks leading up to the match Joshua and Camus resumed normal service as if it was no big deal. the “Dynamic Duo” ran their errands and Joshua would train for a few hours a night with usually members of HEAVENS as STARISH was tied up with major rehearsals. There was something about working with them on the relays that worked just as well as it did with Azuma the day he came for a visit and Haruka’s cadences were as crisp and as perfect as they were the day that Joshua and Azuma worked together! In a weird way it felt like Joshua was working with Saisei but he wasn’t…he was working with HEAVENS!

The night before the Ichijo match Joshua checked the standing and interestingly enough both were 1 and 1! Saisei lost to Tsubaki and beat Misashi and Ichijo LOST to Tsubaki (which pissed off Shiki something fierce he heard) and beat Misashi handedly but the times were pretty bad! This match was going to be to see who would get to go to the Semis and who would potentially be near the bottom of the ladder!

_And then…the day of the match came!_

You know when you have that feeling in the pit of your stomach that tells you something was going to happen…yeah that happened here!

Let’s forget for a minute that it was a picture perfect day and that there was a light breeeze. Let’s forget the thousands of people that lined the streets to watch the match unfold and let’s also forget the crush of people that nearly made it impossible for Camus and Joshua to get where they wanted to watch the match…what was going to go down was pure hell and how the judge actually got it RIGHT was after a certain party jumped the barricade was even MORE astonishing!

What happened was that Tetsu was about to take the handoff from Kaoru whom was blocking Asuma from passing…that’s not illegal but there was a rule put in place (and this is what got discussed with the judge) that once you were within a certain distance of of the T.O. Zone you have to give it up or it now becomes a “pick/screen” which they considered illegal for safety reasons.

Well…the disgusting CRASH of bodies pretty much told you that someone forgot to check the rules!

Now…to be fair to Kaoru he wanted to get out of the way but was told not to by Shiki. This was explained to the Judge BY KAORU but he wanted to award him the win! The thing of it was though is while THAT was going on Josh jumped the rail and explained that in the rulebook the rule was put in to PREVENT that from happening and the win SHOULD go to Saisei. The Judge didn’t know it was Josh at first until he saw the pass from him and was shown the rule WHILE Joshua had to check on Kaede as well!

Here’s what’s worse…it was found out that his friend was GOING to miss the rest of the tournament for what happened forget the spot for a minute! What the hell was going to happen to Kaede after the injury that he sustained?!

The judge awarded the win to Saisei and Himemiya was fine with the decision because in his mind something worse was coming…a sleeping dog got woke up and he was PISSED!

What would Ichijokan do if “He” came back for the tournament?

They prayed that they wouldn’t have to find out!


	5. Chapter 5

3 Days…

It had been 72 hours since the accident that injured Kaede and the sick smile that came across the face of Shiki Douzono was more than enjoy to make anyone go from a happy go lucky individual to someone that wanted to get revenge in the worst way possible!

This is how Joshua felt after what happened and ,in the 100% defense of Ichijo, they called every chance they could to apologize for what happened. Yuuri especially felt bad and when the race was finished and Kaede was loaded up Himemiya made sure to go over to Joshua and apologize for what happened. While he didn’t know Joshua personally he was very much aware of the past that Kaede and Joshua had…matter of fact the entire team did and they wanted to make sure he knew that they were so sorry for the accident and if they could help they would. Now as it turned out the injuries weren’t as severe as they would find out later but they still felt bad for what happened and assured him that they would correct the problem soon.

Here’s the problem…Joshua was gone!

Now when I say this I mean that he was still “there” but there was that part of him that wanted to make sure that Douzono paid for the crime. He knew a simple disqualification wouldn’t be enough…HE wanted to beat Ichijokan in the worst way now and Yuuri and the rest of the team understood. They were now on his radar and they were in trouble!

When Joshua went back to the Agency he told everyone about what happened and they were upset. It was a scary situation which ,as I just mentioned, thankfully didn’t turn out as bad as was believed but he would be out for the rest of the tournament to properly heal. This…however put the team in a bind because now they lost one of their members not just for the first race which would be their semifinal BUT they also were supposed to do a concert after the fact if they won…well you see if Kaede is physically unable to perform in the races they weren’t go to clear him for that!

Just what Josh wanted to hear…NOW this team and idol group was REALLY up against it! If they can’t find someone to fill the gap in time then they forfeit and that would be a problem for Saisei as a school but also Valentine Records and now by proxy Shining and Raging!

What does one do in a situation like this?

The answer would not be immediately obvious but as Joshua went back to Camus’ room he sat and stared at his computer screens. He wanted to cry ,he wanted to scream and he WANTED to punch Shiki in the mouth for this! They WERE FRIENDS…JOSHUA USED TO GO TO THE DUDE’S HOUSE AND THEY HUNG OUT TOGETHER…WHAT WAS CAUSING ALL THIS HATRED?!

Joshua needed to go away for a day or two or three…he still had time to think of SOMETHING but he needed to go away from anyone related to the Agency or…he just needed to get out! As luck would have it…a phone call gave him that chance!

“Hello is this Joshua Curtis of the Shining Agency?” A man asked and Joshua gave an affirmative wondering who the hell was on the other end! “My name is Ichinose Guren ,Lieutenant Colonel of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, and I was wondering if you would like to come for a visit for a day or two? A colleague of mine named Shinya Hiragi said he saw you at a shoot for the group ‘Galaxy Standard’ and when he told me about you I knew I wanted you to come for a visit so would you be willing to come down for a few days and see the facility?” Guren asked and Josh was shocked speechless! How often do you get someone from the Demon Army calling you on the phone to come for a visit? Well Josh was so shocked he was stuttering and stammering for a few minutes before Camus had enough and walked over to answer for him.

“Lieutenant Colonel” Camus began “my Assistant would love to come down for a few days but he needs to be back in time to shoot something with me for a special event. Is that alright?” Camus asked and Guren didn’t decline the conditions. WHAT Camus was referring to as far as the project for when he comes back not even Josh knew but the fact that he was being allowed to go for a few days to see the facility was actually pretty sweet! He was sure to thank Camus after they hung up the call and when that was done Joshua went and packed his things for the trip. Shinya was going to be around in about 90 minutes time!

_An hour and a half later_

Shinya pulled up in his stylish as all hell car and ,as he would find out on the drive back, it is almost always customary that this dude has a piece of toast hanging from his mouth…WHY was anyone’s guess!

“Good afternoon Curtis-san! I hear you are coming for a few days visit and we are excited to have you on the trip. I told our friend that you might need something to help work A LITTLE of the aggravation out that you experienced recently. He has told me he wants you still A LITTLE mad for the match because it might help your motivation. I agree a little so would you please come this way?” Shinya asked and Joshua nodded as the Agency roster watched Joshua get into the car with his belongings and he knew he wasn’t there for R&R…the way he was dressed it was to make sure that he was ready for “go time” and that was the purpose of the trip

_Back in the Agency_

“Is Joshua going to be okay?” Kira asked in as flat a manner that would indicate indifference but in actuality…this is how he was! Sumeragi tended to not show much emotion save for when he was singing then HOLY HELL could he go! The question that he asked however would be answered accordingly by the man that allowed the trip in the first place…CAMUS!

“Joshua will be fine. He lives for adventure and things that will get his Adrenaline going. There are few better places to do this then the Japanese Imperial Demon Army and few people better to train under than Ichinose Guren and Shinya Hiragi.” Camus explained and everyone wondered how Camus knew them

“Let’s just say that Guren and I have had meetings because Her Royal Highness and I made sure that he understood how important his role was in maintaining order. I also told him there might come a day like this where he would need to take someone from me to help train them a little…I just didn’t know it would be Joshua.” The Count explained and everyone understood but well…Toki was concerned and this concern turned into an “undercover trip” to the MDC!

_A Day Later_

Tokiya had convinced Shining (with a little help from Reiji) that STARISH needed to take a little trip before a big concert that was coming up and surprisingly Shining agreed BUT he was only allowed to take 3 people! Well since he had Rei help him convince he went and believe it or not Shion and Eiji wanted to see what was going on! Okay Eiichi MADE him go but he kind of wanted to see it anyways so it worked out…besides the three of them could shut Reiji the hell up during the observations!

The trip to get to the facility took a few hours but part of that was because Reiji decided it was a good idea in his “Green Goblin” to not have a GPS so they had to rely on his sense of direction which IS REALLY GOOD but the dude just couldn’t find the place to save his life…then again YOU try parking the car in a way not to be spotted? Guren doesn’t even know how SHINYA gets away with driving what he does!

The group got out and figured out a way ahead of time to sneak through the cars to about where Josh would be on that day. They waited to see if they could hear his voice and they could tell if they were getting closer because the reply of “SIR!” would get louder and louder and when they got to where he was…they just silently watched and surprisingly NO ONE saw them!

In the actually facility Guren decided that for Joshua’s “Special Training” he was going to be doing a lot of running and hitting the bag! Well okay that was more what Shinya GOT HIM to do because apparently what Guren wanted was a bit more extreme ALTHOUGH he did get one thing in that no one saw coming!

Apparently at the end of the first day (and when certain cadets decide its wise to smart off to him) he decided that it was a GREAT IDEA (read: Borderline insane) to bust out one of his Demons…in this case Noya and PLANT THE SWORD about 10 feet away from Josh and out came the friend!

Now you might wonder why he did this? Here was the given explanation on day 1:

“I believe that you have heart and soul to do what you want to do already…your record and legend speaks for itself. The problem is that its usually being tested when you already were in a position to be the fresh man in the relays and more than likely you would be if you got put into the team for the tournament no? That’s all well and good but I want to test your soul and courage when you have been run like a dog for HOURS! To do that…you will face this” And when he pulled out his sword Josh knew the kid games were over!

The rules:

Once Joshua was “ready” the sword would be planted and the demon summoned. He had to last the ENTIRE DURATION or it he failed for the day. This sounds easy but he had nowhere to run or hide and Joshua was more than willing to face a freaking DEMON head on because in Guren’s mind Joshua wanted to give Douzono the devil…well he had to beat a DEMON first!

Suffice to say Joshua got his butt ROCKED in the first match against the Demon as he barely lasted a MINUTE against Noya! He knew that it was going to be needing to push himself harder if he wanted to beat one…let alone what his own goal was at the end of this journey!

On the day that our friends decided to watch they tried to think of where would be a safe place to watch this? Well really there WAS NONE BUT THEY TRIED ANYWAYS as they heard the sword stick into the ground and they tried to mentally count the time, By Reiji’s count it was about 3 minutes by the others it was about 2 and a half (Toki said 4 but no one believed it strangely) and now the group was worried that he wasn’t going to pass! They heard that the final day was going to be EVEN CRAZIER but if he couldn’t last against one why ramp it up?

That answer came on the final day…

The final day came and this time since Guren already knew they were being watched they had the group come and watch their friend “fail miserably” at his test! Apparently this guy decided the “Shiki Douzono method” of encouragement was something worth doing?

Oh Lord

Oh first off Joshua ran about 100 suicides by the time the day wrapped up WITH SHINYA’S GUN STRAPPED TO HIM but then…then it got INSANE!

“You’ve heard what they say about ‘Letting sleeping dogs lie’ right Ichinose? START THE DAMN TEST NOW YOU POMPOUS F**K!” Joshua spat and Guren didn’t blink and did as asked…the fact that he didn’t blink or show any emotion like he normally would told you both men were serious and the boys that were watching were given a bunker to watch it from by Hiragi.

He didn’t blink

He didn’t shudder

He DID NOT MOVE!

Joshua stood there like someone that had been slapped in the face by someone and withstood it for a full 10 minutes!

One would think that was enough right? Joshua didn’t and much to EVERYONE’S surprise he pointed at Shinya and told him it was time…time that he really proves some mettle against a sniper!

Shinya knew that Joshua was a crazy man and for that alone he respected him…the fact that he was willing to take on HIS Demon made him respect Joshua even more all things considered!

The Demon that Joshua wanted to dance with was called Byakkomaru and for this test (if he could legit survive it cos now he was playing with his life) the rules were a bit trickier because now he was facing a demon that would split into multiples to KILL HIM!

This one was simply put: Dodge and evade for as long as possible and when Shinya felt Joshua had enough he would (hopefully) end it before his friend was KILLED!

The unthinkable happened…

Simply put this creature could mulitply if needed (and did more than once) but Joshua found a way to literally outrun the creatures and when Shinya called them off Joshua was officially gassed…but not before running for his life for a legit 30 minutes!

When the tests ended originally Guren was going to be the one to congratulate Josh but Shinya walked up to him ,grabbed his arm and raised it in the air as the cadets that were assembled saw what the hell just happened! If this is what Joshua was willing to go through to make sure that Saisei won…GOD HELP DOUZONO!!!

_A few days later back at the Agency_

Joshua was sitting in the room where they would normally do rehearsals and Camus had a camera set up but first he wanted to go get something that was given after the test at the training facility…a very special outfit that was already custom made ahead of time for a person of his status. When he came back he gave the okay and the camera started rolling…

_The day of the Semifinals_

It was a packed house for the Semis and everyone was waiting with baited breath to see if there WOULD BE a Semifinal match as the status of Saisei was still up in the air. They HAD HEARD that they had a sub but they needed two as it was found out that Shizuma was going to be late for the event and that was a problem. There weren’t many “Player/coaches” in STRIDE so who could be the person that could take over AND who would be the person that was taking over the leg right before Reiji’s which was to be Kaede’s?

“Ah ha ha ha ha you fools! I told knew that you wouldn’t be able to find someone! You boys bluff good but now we have the last laugh and its all thanks to what we did in the group stage. Now sit back and watch as we…” Douzono was cutoff when Himemiya told him to look up on the video screen that everyone else was seeing

————————————————————————————————-

On the screen was room with an empty chair and it was of a very intricate design much like the room and everyone was wondering what was going on..

until…HE SPOKE!

Douzono…excuse me Shiki Douzono ,head of the Ichijokan STRIDE Club, you see to think that I have forgotten about you as someone I ran against years ago and knew personally. You seem to think that I forgot who you WERE as a person and as a man among boys. You were someone that BELIEVED our sport should be played fairly and never for injury and I used to commend you for your devotion…

As the voice stops everyone wonders what happened and then…

Joshua appeared on the screen taking his seat in front of the camera finally and NOT looking very happy!

…I WAS SO VERY WRONG! I was wrong because you see Douzono I have no ill towards ANYONE at that school. I don’t blame Yuuri or Kei or anyone on the team for the accident that cost Kaede the rest of his tournament AND HIS FINAL TO BOOT! I don’t blame them because you see Shiki I know it was you that caused that accident and I KNOW you know the rules backwards and forwards BECAUSE WE SAT IN THE F***ING ROOM TOGETHER TO GET THE RULE IN PLACE…ARE YOU REALLY THAT STUPID?!

Shikl let me explain something to you right now: You will be watching this video on this screen THINKING you got an easy win and you can skate on to Kakoyin right?! YOU want to be the one to face Joe Sakura and Toya in the end right?

I can’t let that happen…

I can’t let someone I considered a friend ,considered “Royalty” in many respects along with myself, take their win and go face a school that ACTUALLY HAS INTEGRITY!

Shiki…you are a no good ,lowdown ,dirty ,rotten ,PEASANT and usually I am good about working with the Common folks in the different places I traveled but today I’m about making sure YOU remember my name!

Shiki if you would be so kind as to look down at the registration desk you will notice that there aren’t just FOUR members of Sasei High anymore…and that is only PART of your NIGHTMARE!

Take care

—————————————————————————————————

Douzono looked back at the Registration and he saw the one thing that he DIDN’T want to see! He saw a determined ,pissed off ,angry Joshua wearing the Jacket that was in the video and he couldn’t help but smile as the announcement was made

“Ladies and Gentleman…Joshua has been put in the order to take over Kaede’s spot and now Douzono was furious but even more so when he saw the Relationer’s box and Josh had them play one more part of the video that was deliberately added at the end

—————————————————————————————————-

Oh and by the way…should Shizuma not be able to make the matches…I got a favor called in from Shining that he owed me! I hope you like dancing to her melodies because when she is focused Haruka is one of the best! TODAY IS NOT YOUR DAY!

—————————————————————————————————

One would think this would NOT work in Saisei’s favor right? They have a new Relationer and they never really worked with Joshua as a whole but a few young men thought that wouldn’t be a problem

Bantarou…and Azuma!

Joshua went to take his spot in the race and Shiki was beyond furious and all Haruka could only smile before speaking

“I’m so so sorry to hear you are having a bad day sir but this is one time I all I can say is your brought this on yourself.” Nanami replied with a rather devilish smirk. What had Joshua done to her?

Oh that’s just it…HE DIDN’T DO IT! Her making sure she remembered the image of Shiki smiling DID and she couldn’t let him off that easily. Hell YAMATO wasn’t going to let him off and she made sure to remember that too!

Oh but she played her melody and made sure that Shiki followed her. During the race before Joshua’s leg she would intentionally drop her men back to make Shiki think he had a prayer but she played with him like a cat on a string and when it got time for Joshua’s leg she heard something over the communications

“Yuuri you know I don’t want to do this right? I respect your team too much but I can’t let someone like him win…so I have one question: Can you feel the ‘RUSH’?” and when Haruka heard that she made sure the song played over the sound system and then…it was all over! The handoff was so good he actually got in his frontflip and high fived Reiji with a smile! The scream of “GO…DO THIS FOR KAEDE!” could be heard not just by Reiji but the entire crowd and they all got behind him for the Anchor leg as he won it handedly but they knew the job was only half done…Kakoyin was next up and they were going to have something left in the tank BUT would they still have the same Relatiooner?

The answer…was YES!

Turns out that something happened and Shizuma wouldn’t be able to make the tournament final but he called Haruka personally and told her to “finish the job with Curtis-San and complete ‘The Royal Stride’ which every worldwide publication was wondering if it was ever going to happen…would what was considered “Royalty” finish the job that was before him!

As the countdown to the final race went on Joshua looked out in the crowd and he saw the people that he worked with at the Agency standing there watching on and he saw Tsubakimachi filing in and he even saw that at Finish was Guren and Shinya!

The finals of the stepladder meant very little turnaround and on the same track which you would think means that they were going to have an advantage but the thing was with the last race there was NO WAY they could have reserves left right?

This is where knowing someone like Shinya comes in handy!

As minutes ticked into seconds the final orders were getting ready to be put in but Suwa made one request to Nanami…

“Joshua goes Anchor…he’s earned it!”

Josh didn’t say anything…all he did was nod and walk up to his starting spot for the final leg and when the race was getting ready to start and he heard the final countdown all he could remember was the day he did the concert with Ren and the final words that were said…

“IT’S SHOW TIME!”

The thing about the match with Ichijo was yes that one was personal but anyone that knew Joshua knew that he had ANOTHER LEVEL and no one has ever seen it before…IF he went there it was all over!

As the race went on Joshua just closed his eyes and didn’t utter a word. He moved around to keep loose and then when Haruka gave him the signal that it was time to go off he went and at first it felt like he didn’t hear her because Tomoe was a little ahead but Josh knew…it was over before he took off!

Like being shot out of a cannon Joshua caught up in seconds to the take over and blasted past the corner that he knew COULD be his trouble spot…once that happened it was over as Tomoe was passed and he watched someone run like the demon Shinya shot at him at the camp!

The race was over and one would think that Joshua would be spent physically but in reality the young man straightened up ,looked to the sky, and let out a roar the likes you could hear from 10 city blocks before regaining his composure and bowing to his opponent. Josh knew he didn’t have to but he felt it was a respectful thing to do as he had no ill towards Joe ,Toya or the rest of the team. He did what he wanted to do already and now was just the icing on the cake!

“Its true what they say…your legend goes a long way and that is something this sport as a whole can commend you for. It was a pleasure to face you Joshua and even if this is the last time it was certainly a lot of fun.” Yagami told Joshua and Josh just smiled and shook his hand out of respect before heading over to the men that trained him and saluted proper which they swiftly returned and Shinya gave Joshua back the jacket which was important to him. It was to comemorate the time that he trained with them and what he didn’t know was…it was going to come in handy in a little while!

_A Few hours later_

Night fell over Shibuya and everyone was waiting for “Galaxy Standard” to come out and do their concert for the evening. Everyone was getting nervous until they saw 4 of the original 5 with Shizuma being there as he made it back in time for the concert BUT they were still missing one as Kaede was out due to injury. What was gonna happen?

_Backstage_

A knock came at the door and Joshua knew they were waiting for him. As he was getting ready he watched the footage one more time of the final leg and as it finished he looked in the mirror and saw the jacket with the chain and the pin very much like what they had down at the MDC. He told the stagehand he was ready and they made their way out to a waiting crowd

_Back outside_

“Ladies and gentlemen. We appreciate your patience this evening as we had a bit of an issue a few weeks ago as you all know. One of our members got injured in a race and we needed a replacement. I’m sure you all know who he was by now and it was explained we MIGHT need a little help with this concert tonight. Mr. Curtis if you are in the area still would you kindly grace these people with your presence?” Reiji asked and Josh couldn’t leave the public waiting! Out he walked and the crowd was virtually deafening! The impact of him walking out for the race was nice but THIS…WHOA!

Before they started Reiji asked for silence because he knew that Joshua wanted to say something and that he did

“First off I want to thank Saisei for actually asking me to come on the team. I’m sure its well documented that we have our own issues that we have had to fight through and we did. We fought through them and came out 120x stronger for it!

I work for the Shining Agency as do these young men here and I am not lying when I tell you that I got 18 individuals that I help with their growth almost every day and every minute. When I found out that we were taking on these 6 I was admittedly a little apprehensive BUT there is something called personal growth and sometimes that comes through tragedy. The young man that looks up to me that is now sitting down there with you named Kaede I feel bad for because you see THIS is where he belongs…not me! I’m here because of him and I’m here because this team needed me. Tonight I want to tell that young man and everyone of you something…

‘YOU’RE MY COURAGE’!’ Joshua yelled and the crowd knew what that meant

The song started and everyone sang along with the 6 men on stage and watched as Joshua was with Ban and Reiji and they actually did the chorus together! It was a moment that if you told Joshua it WOULD happen he would have said you were nuts…good thing it happened huh?

When the song ended Joshua took his final bow on the stage with the boys BUT the crowd wasn’t going to let it be just yet! EVERYONE in the area wanted to hear Joshua do his own version of one particular Gal Stan song because they collectively chanted one thing

“TRANSFORMATION TIME!”

What did that mean? They wanted Joshua to make one of their songs “his” and who was Josh to deny the request!

“Alright but before we do…get me a mike and get THAT YOUNG MAN up here sitting in a chair on this stage please? Time for him to see what that phrase means kids” Josh told the audience with a smile and the security did their part while he took off his headset and even the rest of Gal Stan stuck around for this…a show was about to begin the likes they never got to see!

“Alright are we good? Ladies…Gentlemen…I have but one simple question for you…

can you feel the “RUSH’?!” and with that…no one said anything but they watched Joshua put his energy and soul into the song in front of everyone and that included his friends in Kaede ,Bantarou ,Shizuma and Azuma. Even Reiji despite their differences he enjoyed working with and he wanted people to know there was no ill anymore!

The song finished and Joshua looked like he had run 3 STRIDEs on his own! The crowd knew that when that young man was in the building songs were never the same again after he got done with them and Kaede wanted to get up but Shizuma told him to stay and they went to go get Joshua but he swatted them away and got up on his own power…this is why he was so important because that stage for him was his ultimate playground and the fun he had was worth all the pain he put out there and that audience watched him slowly get him staggered and he threw his fist in the air and EVERYONE ROARED! You could NOT hear the announcers over the screams of the people but one thing you COULD do was see the joy that everyone on stage had at seeing Joshua in his element and even Guren and Shinya hopped up on stage to join in the party! It was a hella fun ride for everyone but sadly it had to end eventually

Three weeks later…

The media blitz that Joshua had to do after the tournament was so crazy he barely had time to go to the bathroom! He was one of the most requested interviews for music and sports stations all over the country and around the world and that was to be expected! There was one interview however that was a special one for him and he would NOT take it unless he had a special guest with him and that was Kaede

Why?

Because Okumura was the reason he had returned briefly to the sport and it was because of him he actually had a renewed focus on whatever he did. He admitted he was lacking a little bit but he told the interviewer that the young man was so important to him that he couldn’t think about the sport anymore without HIM being involved! For that matter his friends at Gal Stan whom he made in a short time already became important and he stated that he WILL work out his issues with Reiji but won’t be through media. Its something that need to be private!

That intervew would be the last that Joshua took as a STRIDE runner but one thing was for sure…

His Legend and that of the “Royal Stride” was never going to die!


End file.
